I'm new to programming in C. And I'm trying to print the first 10 lines of a text file. When I run my program with a text file containing 11 lines of text, only the first line is displayed. I'm not sure why it does that, but I suspect there is something wrong in my while loop. Can someone please help me?
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
FILE *myfile;
char content;
int max = 0;
// Open file
myfile = fopen(argv[1], "r");
if (myfile == NULL){
printf("Cannot open file \n");
exit(0);
}
// Read the first 10 lines from file
content = fgetc(myfile);
while (content != EOF){
max++;
if (max > 10)
break;
printf ("%c", content);
content = fgetc(myfile);
}
fclose(myfile);
return 0;
}
You have been already advised to use fgets. However, if your file has lines of unknown length, you may still want to use fgetc. Just make sure you count only newlines, not all characters:
int max = 0;
int content;
while ((content = fgetc(myfile)) != EOF && max < 10){
if (content == '\n') max++;
putchar(content);
}
fgetc() returns the next character in the file, not the next line. You probably want to use fgets() instead, which reads up to the next newline character into a buffer. Your code should probably end up with something like:
// allocate 1K for a buffer to read
char *buff = malloc(1024);
// iterate through file until we are out of data or we read 10 lines
while(fgets(buff, 1024, myfile) != NULL && max++ < 10) {
printf("%s\n", buff);
}
free(buff);
// close your file, finish up...
Read more about fgets() here: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/c_standard_library/c_function_fgets.htm
fgetc function reads the next character not the next ine. for reading the number of lines you should use fgets function. this function reads the full string till the end of the one line and stores it in a string.
your code Shuld be as:-
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
FILE *myfile;
char content[200];
int max = 0;
// Open file
myfile = fopen(argv[1], "r");
if (myfile == NULL)
{
printf("Cannot open file \n");
exit(0);
}
// Read the first 10 lines from file
fgets(content, 200, myfile);
while (content != EOF)
{
max++;
if (max > 10)
break;
printf("%s", content);
fgets(content, 200, myfile);
}
fclose(myfile);
return 0;
}
Related
I have this code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
FILE* ptr = fopen("data.txt","r");
char filename[100];
if (ptr==NULL)
{
printf("no such file.");
return 0;
}
char buf[100];
while (fscanf(ptr,"%*s %*s %s ",buf)==1)
printf("%s\n", buf);
printf("Create a file \n");
scanf("%s", filename);
fptr2 = fopen(filename, "w");
if (fptr2 == NULL)
{
printf("Cannot open file %s \n", filename);
exit(0);
}
c = fgetc(fptr1);
while (c != EOF)
{
fputc(c, fptr2);
c = fgetc(fptr1);
}
printf("\nContents copied to %s", filename);
fclose(fptr1);
fclose(fptr2);
return 0;
}
}
It coppies full content from one file to another. I need to copy only strings that have 5 as the last character (3 column)
For example Data.txt looks like that:
Alex 10B 4
John 10A 3
Kate 10C 5
In file that I will create during execution has to be coppied only Kate 10C 5 string. I've been trying for hours but I don't know how to do this. Can you help me?
In the end of each line there is a newline character, (\n) you can use that to read line by line and copy only the ones that you want:
FILE* dest = fopen("out.txt", "w+"); // supressed null check for simplicity
char buf[100];
char* char_to_find;
// parse line by line
while (fscanf(ptr, " %99[^\n]", buf) == 1){
char_to_find = buf;
// reach the end of the line
while(*char_to_find){
char_to_find++;
}
//move one back
char_to_find--;
// if it's 5 save, if not move on
if(*char_to_find == '5' && *(char_to_find - 1) == ' '){
fputs(buf, dest);
}
}
Live demo
The problem is that the function call
while (fscanf(ptr,"%*s %*s %s ",buf)==1)
consumes the input from the input stream, so that it is no longer available for copying. You are only saving the contents of the last field, but all other data is lost.
I suggest that you read one line at a time into a memory buffer, by calling the function fgets in a loop. That way, you will process one line of input per loop iteration, and will be saving the contents of the entire line.
In every loop iteration, you can use sscanf on this memory buffer to determine whether the third field has the desired value, and if it does, then you copy the entire line to the output file. Otherwise, you do nothing and proceed to the next line (i.e. the next loop iteration).
char line[100];
//process one line of input per loop iteration
while ( fgets( line, sizeof line, input_file ) != NULL )
{
char third_field[20];
if (
//third field was successfully extracted
sscanf( line, "%*s%*s%19s", third_field ) == 1
&&
//third field contains the string "5"
strcmp( third_field, "5" ) == 0
)
{
//copy entire line to output file
fputs( line, output_file );
}
}
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
FILE* ptr = fopen("data.txt","r");
char filename[100];
if (ptr==NULL)
{
printf("no such file.");
return 0;
}
printf("Create a file \n");
scanf("%s", filename);
FILE* dest = fopen(filename, "w+"); // check for null like above
char buf[100];
char* char_to_find;
while (fscanf(ptr,"%99[^\n] ", buf) == 1){
char_to_find = buf;
while(*char_to_find != 0){
char_to_find++;
}
char_to_find--;
if(*char_to_find == '5'){
printf("%s\n", buf); // test ptint
fputs(buf, dest);
}
}
}
I have a list of columns containing text but I just to fetch first upper row from this list. How to do that?
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
FILE *fr;
char c;
fr = fopen("prog.txt", "r");
while( c != EOF)
{
c = fgetc(fr); /* read from file*/
printf("%c",c); /* display on screen*/
}
fclose(fr);
return 0;
}
Your stop condition is EOF, everything will be read to the end of the file, what you need is to read till newline character is found, furthermore EOF (-1) should be compared with int type.
You'll need something like:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
FILE *fr;
int c;
if(!(fr = fopen("prog.txt", "r"))){ //check file opening
perror("File error");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
while ((c = fgetc(fr)) != EOF && c != '\n')
{
printf("%c",c); /* display on screen*/
}
fclose(fr);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
This is respecting your code reading the line char by char, you also have the library functions that allow you to read whole line, like fgets() for a portable piece of code, or getline() if you are not on Windows, alternatively download a portable version, and, of course you can make your own like this one or this one.
For whatever it's worth, here's an example that uses getline
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
FILE *fr;
char *line = NULL;
size_t len = 0;
ssize_t nread;
if (!(fr = fopen("prog.txt", "r"))) {
perror("Unable to open file");
return 1;
}
nread = getline(&line, &len, fr);
printf("line: %s, nread: %ld\n", line, nread);
fclose(fr);
return 0;
}
Some notes:
getline() can automatically allocate your read buffer, if you wish.
getline() returns the end of line delimiter. You can always strip it off, if you don't want it.
It's ALWAYS a good idea to check the status of I/O calls like "fopen()".
just replace EOF as '\n'(new line char). Than your code will read until reaching the new line. Here is what it looks like:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
FILE *fr;
char c = ' ';
fr = fopen("prog.txt", "r");
while(c != EOF && c != '\n')
{
c = fgetc(fr); /* read from file*/
if(c != EOF){
printf("%c",c); /* display on screen*/
}
}
fclose(fr);
return 0;
}
I have not tested it yet but probably work. Please let me know if there is some problem with the code i will edit it.
Edit1:char c; in line 5 is initialized as ' ' for dealing with UB.
Edit2:adding condition (c != EOF) to while loop in line 7, for not giving reason to infinite loop.
Edit3:adding if statement to line 10 for not printing EOF which can be reason for odd results.
So what I'm basically doing here is using a command line argument to open a file but only open it 4 lines at a time, then a prompt to print out add'l lines. I can get the file to print out but I cannot figure out how to get it to only print out a few lines at a time. This is where I'm at....thoughts?
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
char line[1000];
FILE *pt;
pt = fopen(argv[1], "r");
if(pt == NULL) return -1;
printf(argv[1], line);
while(fgets(line, 1000, pt) != NULL)
printf("%s", line);
fclose(pt);
return 0;
}
I start from strange line of your code, and then I will try to answer the question.
Statement
printf(argv[1], line);
make me curious - what you what to print, actually?
Here line is not initialized, and argv[1] can hardly be used as format line.
So I suppose it should be just
printf(argv[1]);
or
printf("Filename is %s\n", argv[1]);
As for reading from a file with name provided as argv[1] your code looks able to work, I mean your code read line by line till the end of file and prints these lines at the screen.
If you want to change this logic, e.g. read only 4 first line, add condition with counter, e.g.:
int cnt;
for (cnt = 0; cnt < 4; cnt++) // repeat reading 4 times
{
if (fgets(line, 1000, pt) != NULL)
printf("%s", line);
else
break; // stop when reading fails
}
or (I prefer this version)
int cnt = 0;
while (fgets(line, 1000, pt) != NULL && cnt < 4)
{
printf("%s", line);
cnt++;
}
Such changes allows to stop reading (as well as output), so only 4 or less lines will be shown at console screen.
Finally, for case when you want to show file by groups of 4 (or other constant value), consider the following snippet:
#include <stdio.h>
#define MAX_LINES_TO_PRINT 4
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
char line[1000];
FILE *pt;
pt = fopen(argv[1], "r");
if (pt == NULL) return -1;
printf("Filename is %s\n", argv[1]);
int cnt = 0;
while (fgets(line, 1000, pt) != NULL)
{
printf("%s", line);
cnt++;
if (cnt % MAX_LINES_TO_PRINT == 0)
{
int answer;
printf("[%d lines printed] Continue? (Y/N) : ", cnt);
answer = getchar(); // get user's response
while (getchar() != '\n'); // clean input buffer after getchar
if (toupper(answer) == 'N')
{
break; // stop reading the file
}
}
}
fclose(pt);
return 0;
}
Try this program with your file and ask question if something is unclear.
Changing the value in the line #define MAX_LINES_TO_PRINT 4 you can regulate maximum number of lines printed at once (before the next request to continue), e.g. #define MAX_LINES_TO_PRINT 15 make your program printing up to 15 lines.
I have created a function that takes as a parameter the name of a source file, the name of a destination file and the beginning and end lines of the source file lines that will be copied to the destination file, like the example below. All I want to do is to input the lines that I want to copy to the other text file like the example below:
The code I show you just "reads" the content of the one text file and "writes" another one. I want to "write" specific lines that the user gives, not the whole text file
Inputs by the user:
Source_file.txt //the file that the destination file will read from
destination_file.txt //the new file that the program has written
2 3 // the lines that it will print to the destination file: 2-3
Source_file.txt:
1
2
3
4
5
6
destination_file.txt
2
3
code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void cp(char source_file[], char destination_file[], int lines_copy) {
char ch;
FILE *source, *destination;
source = fopen(source_file, "r");
if (source == NULL) {
printf("File name not found, make sure the source file exists and is ending at .txt\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
destination = fopen(destination_file, "w");
if (destination == NULL) {
fclose(source);
printf("Press any key to exit...\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
while ((ch = fgetc(source)) != EOF)
fputc(ch, destination);
printf("Copied lines %d from %s to %s \n",
lines_copy, source_file, destination_file, ".txt");
fclose(source);
fclose(destination);
}
int main() {
char s[20];
char d[20];
int lines;
printf("-Enter the name of the source file ending in .txt\n"
"-Enter the name of the destination file ending in .txt\n"
"-Enter the number of lines you want to copy\n\n");
printf(">subcopy.o ");
gets(s);
printf("destination file-> ");
gets(d);
printf("Lines: ");
scanf("%d", &lines);
cp(s, d, lines);
return 0;
}
In cp(), in order to select the lines to keep, you have to know their position in the input-file. Thus, you need to count lines.
Using fgets instead of fgetc will allow you to count the lines.
On the other hand, if I wanted to select lines 3 and 7 to 12 in a file, I'd use:
sed -n -e "3p;7,12p" < input.txt > output.txt
this is a very simple solution, let's say you know that the maximun length of a line will be 100 characters for simplicity (if a line is longer than 100 characters only the first 100 will be taken)
at the top (outside main) you can write
#ifndef MAX_LINE_SIZE
#define MAX_LINE_SIZE 100
#endif
i know many people don't like this but i think in this case it makes the code more elegant and easier to change if you need to modify the maximum line size.
to print only the wanted lines you can do something like this
char line[MAX_LINE_SIZE];
int count = 0;
while (fgets(line, MAX_LINE_SIZE, source)){
count++;
if (3 <= count && count <= 5){
fputs(line, destination);
}
}
The while loop will end when EOF is reched because fgets returns NULL.
P.S. there could be some slight errors here and there since i wrote it pretty fast and going by memory but in general it should work.
There are some problems in your program:
Do not use gets(), it may cause buffer overflows.
Always use type int to store the return value of fgetc() in order to distinguish EOF from regular byte values.
You pass an extra argument ".txt" to printf(). It will be ignored but should be removed nonetheless.
To copy a range of lines from source to destination, you can just modify your function this way:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <errno.h>
void cp(char source_file[], char destination_file[], int start_line, int end_line) {
int ch;
int line = 1, lines_copied;
FILE *source, *destination;
source = fopen(source_file, "r");
if (source == NULL) {
printf("Cannot open input file %s: %s\n",
source_file, strerror(errno));
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
destination = fopen(destination_file, "w");
if (destination == NULL) {
printf("Cannot open output file %s: %s\n",
destination_file, strerror(errno));
fclose(source);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
while ((ch = fgetc(source)) != EOF) {
if (line >= start_line && line <= end_line) {
fputc(ch, destination);
}
if (ch == '\n') {
line++;
}
}
lines_copied = 0;
if (line > start_line) {
if (line >= end_line) {
lines_copied = end_line - start_line + 1;
} else {
lines_copied = line - start_line + 1;
}
}
printf("Copied lines %d from %s to %s\n",
lines_copy, source_file, destination_file);
fclose(source);
fclose(destination);
}
int main() {
char source_file[80];
char destination_file[80];
int start_line, end_line;
printf("-Enter the name of the source file ending in .txt\n"
"-Enter the name of the destination file ending in .txt\n"
"-Enter the start and end line\n\n");
printf(">subcopy.o ");
if (scanf("%79s", source_file) != 1) {
return 1;
}
printf("destination file-> ");
if (scanf("%79s", destination_file) != 1) {
return 1;
}
printf("Start and end lines: ");
if (scanf("%d %d", &start_line, &end_line) != 2) {
return 1;
}
cp(source_file, destination_file, start_line, end_line);
return 0;
}
I'm totally new in C, and I'm trying to do a little application that searches for a string in a file. My problem is that I need to open a big file (more than 1GB) with just one line inside and fgets return me the entire file (I'm doing test with a 10KB file).
Actually this is my code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
char *search = argv[argc-1];
int retro = strlen(search);
int pun = 0;
int sortida;
int limit = 10;
char ara[20];
FILE *fp;
if ((fp = fopen ("SEARCHFILE", "r")) == NULL){
sortida = -1;
exit (1);
}
while(!feof(fp)){
if (fgets(ara, 20, fp) == NULL){
break;
}
//this must be a 20 bytes line, but it gets the entyre 10Kb file
printf("%s",ara);
}
sortida = 1;
if(fclose(fp) != 0){
sortida = -2;
exit (1);
}
return 0;
}
What can I do to find an string into a file?
I've tried with GREP but it don't helps, because it returns the position:ENTIRE_STRING.
I'm open to ideas.
Try
printf("%s\n",ara);
Also consider initializing variables before you use them:
char ara[20]={0x0};
You only allocated 20 bytes for the input buffer, but told the fgets to read 20 bytes.
Make this change:
if (fgets(ara, sizeof(ara)-1, fp) == NULL){
remember, if you want 20 characters PLUS the trailing '\0' that marks the end of the string you have to allocate 21 bytes.